1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer keyboards, and more specifically, to a digital keyboard with a plurality of keys having a top key surface having means for displaying images and indicia thereon. While the images/indicia can be composed of any picture, illustration, words or combination thereof, the preferred embodiment of the present invention is to display predetermined images and/or words on key caps representing shortcut key sequences for performing functions related to a user's current in process computer software applications as opposed to using a mouse to perform those same function through activation and selection from drop down menus or icons. Alternatively, a digital display screen forming an integral part of a keyboard whereupon information related to software applications can be displayed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the computer literacy of the population increasing, more tasks are being performed electronically requiring a working knowledge of several applications. Software vendors vying for market share are continuously releasing new versions of their software with the enhancement of added features that has resulted in behemoth application no longer relegated to a single process but melding Internet, Illustration, Word Processing, CAD, etc, into cross processing software suites. Making it a monumental challenge to remember what key sequences execute what function, since these key sequences are at the discretion of the software designer. Many older software applications exclusively used keyboard sequences as shortcut commands before the popularization of the mouse and have maintained backward compatibility as newer versions of the software are designed.
Use of shortcut key sequences, therefore is outside the purview of many users due largely to their application specific nature rather than a user complacent satisfaction of manipulating the mouse pointing device.
There have been many efforts to enhance the functionality of the keyboard that has primarily entailed the addition of keys. As evidenced by the evolution from the 83 key XT version to the 84 key AT version, followed by the 101, 102, and lately 104 key Windows version that are the de-facto standards for keyboards. Still, the keyboard remains a static input device. It should be noted, that there are programmable keyboard whereby proficient computer users can define their own key layout and macro key sequences, but these are still static devices that do not change in accordance with the current application.
Numerous other keyboards exist in the prior art. Typical of these are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,200,913; 4,280,121; 4,633,227; 4,853,888; 4,885,580; 5,128,672; 5,387,042; 5,515,045; 6,199,125 B1; and U.K. Patent Number 2,313,343. While these keyboards may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.